


Not Fair

by Morgana



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-26
Updated: 2014-12-26
Packaged: 2018-03-03 14:21:51
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,847
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2853974
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Morgana/pseuds/Morgana
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Life really wasn't fair</p>
            </blockquote>





	Not Fair

It just wasn’t fair. Bad enough that Stiles had to work at a fucking _mall_ like something out of a stupid John Hughes movies, bad enough he was stuck taking pictures of one sticky, screaming brat after another for minimum wage, bad enough that he had to wear one of the ugliest sweaters in all of creation while he did it, but apparently that wasn’t enough for the universe. No, the universe had to go and further shit all over him by making sure that Santa’s head elf was none other than Derek Hale, hottie extraordinaire.

Stiles had been lusting after Derek ever since he’d bumped into him at the campus coffee shop nine days into his second semester of college - literally bumped into him, doused them both with coffee, and had immediately been caught between begging for his life when Derek glared at him and offering to lick every last drop of coffee off of him. Actually, he probably would’ve begged for that as well if his best friend hadn’t stepped in and saved him from making an ass of himself. Stiles knew he owed Scott for that, but the chance to get his hands on the body under the coffee-stained clothes might well have been worth the ass-kicking he almost certainly would’ve received. Somewhere in between drooling over the muscles that Derek’s wet shirt clung to and the surprising realization that fear boners were a thing, Stiles had developed one hell of a crush on Derek.

A crush that was doomed right from the start, but he didn’t care. He’d spent high school lusting after one gorgeous, untouchable person after another, so this was nothing new. But then, he’d never gotten to actually know one of his crushes before. They’d always been the distant dream that was completely out of his league, and he’d never even thought of trying for more.

Derek was just as far above Stiles as Lydia or Jackson had been, but he was more than just a sex god with abs that had haunted Stiles ever since he’d walked in on him changing that first week. He liked the Avengers and Leverage, he somehow managed to look hot even in the elf uniform that made everyone else look like the dorkiest dorks ever to dork, (even if his tights bagged at the knees, but that just added to the adorableness), and despite his semi-permanent scowl, he didn’t frighten children the way Stiles had expected him to. Instead, the little buggers seemed to adore him - Stiles had seen kids quit crying as soon as Derek hoisted them up and talked to them, although he was never sure just what was said to make them giggle through their tears, and even the shyest kids, the ones that clung to their parents’ legs, could always be counted on to take Derek’s hand and let him walk them over to Santa.

Stiles had told himself more than once that he _wasn’t_ jealous of a five-year-old when he’d seen Derek settle one on his hip or chuck one under the chin, but when he deliberately took one curly-haired flirt’s picture when she wasn’t really prepared for it, he had to admit that he was starting to have trouble believing his own lies. The day got worse from there - while Derek was on his lunch, some mom who was back for the third time in two weeks bought the deluxe package, including close-ups, only to have her precious little darling wait until Stiles went in with the handheld to puke all over him. And to make matters worse, Kira was running late, so Stiles had to just mop off the worst of it and keep taking photos while he waited for her to show up and relieve him.

The whole sucky ass day was brought to a fitting, sucky ass conclusion when he finally got to take the stained sweater off in the changing room only to have Derek walk into the room and stare at him, then sniff. “Yeah, I got puked on,” Stiles snarled, wishing he still had his sweater on so he could shoulder-check Derek and get that stupid blue tunic of his all stinky as well. “We can’t all be child whisperers, you know.”

“Child whisperers?” Derek gave him a puzzled look that really shouldn’t have been as fucking hot as it was.

Stiles just glared at him and stalked into the bathroom, only to have Derek follow him and just stand there, watching him as he did his best to wash up so he didn’t have to reek of puke on the bus on the way home. It wasn’t as good as the long, hot shower he planned on taking the second he got home, but it would have to do. Unfortunately, Derek was still there when he dried himself off. “What?” he snapped.

Derek stared at him, then asked, “Did I do something to piss you off?”

Ordinarily, Stiles would’ve come right back with a sarcastic quip, but with Derek just standing there looking almost... hurt, like he actually cared what Stiles thought, all his defensive anger slipped away and he sighed. “No, I just - I had a really crappy day and I’m taking it out on you.”

“Oh.” Derek nodded and started to turn around, then looked back at him. “You know, if you wanna go grab some coffee and talk about it...”

Stiles shook his head. “Nah, it’s okay. Really, I’m fine. Just a bad day, that’s all.”

He didn’t need Derek’s pity and he sure as hell didn’t need to end up the pathetic idiot who babbled about how much Christmas always sucked without his mom while he sat there stinking of puke in some coffee shop that would no doubt have cute baristas just itching to fawn all over Derek. He slogged off to his shower, his leftover Chinese food, and his Netflix queue, telling himself that everything would be better tomorrow.

And it was. The next day went a lot smoother - no puking kids, no overly made up moms in too-tight sweaters, just the usual procession of kids and photos, Santa’s booming laugh and Christmas music, but it was more bearable than usual. And if anybody had asked, Stiles would have denied til his dying day that the candy cane he’d found slid into his locker had anything to do with it. It was his secret Santa, that was all, just a random gift from another minimum wage slave, and if he happened to notice the way Derek smiled when he brought a little beauty over for her close-up and she said Stiles smelled like peppermint, he wasn’t about to tell anybody.

There was another candy cane there the next day, as well as the one after that, and that was the day Derek came back from his break and handed Stiles a cup of hot chocolate. It was perfect - not too hot, with cinnamon and whipped cream mixed in instead of floating on the top, and Stiles couldn’t keep from groaning as he drank it. He started to ask Derek how much he owed him, only to see Derek hurrying away, like he couldn’t get away from Stiles fast enough.

That’s why it was such a surprise when Derek brought an even bigger hot chocolate the next day. And why it was a shock when he asked Stiles if he wanted to grab lunch in the food court that Friday. Saying no would’ve been rude, that was how Stiles ended up eating lunch with Derek at Panda Express. The first lunch was pretty quiet, since he wanted to do his best to keep his foot out of his mouth, but it didn’t take too many more lunches before his natural talkativeness kicked in and he started blabbing away like he always did. But Derek didn’t seem to mind - he actually listened to Stiles’ theory of Emok and Wookie evolution from a common ancestor and even asked questions about it, like he was interested. It was a new experience for Stiles, having someone besides Scott to talk to, especially since Scott didn’t even like Star Wars.

Somehow they ended up having lunch more often than not. Stiles learned that Derek was a graduate student working on his Master’s in Medieval History. He was kind of a dork about it, honestly, but Stiles wasn’t about to tell him that, since watching Derek’s whole face light up when he talked about feudalism and the history of castles was a treat he wasn’t about to forget anytime soon. Derek came from a big family, which explained his uncanny (and, Stiles still insisted, frankly unnatural) skill with children - he had scores of cousins, nieces, and nephews to practice on.

Neither of them were going home for Christmas, so when Derek suggested they spend the day hanging out at his apartment and have a Marvel marathon, Stiles was more than happy to agree and offer to bring the pizza. He didn’t expect Derek to lean over and kiss him right after the Avengers finished saving New York. And he definitely didn’t expect to wake up in Derek’s bed the next morning.

Getting dressed and sneaking out before Derek woke up made Stiles the most craven of cowards. He knew that, but it beat watching Derek look at him and wonder why the hell he’d thought sleeping with a skinny, pale, spastic idiot was a good idea. And since Santa’s Winter Wonderland had closed for good on Christmas Eve, he didn’t have to face him at work and try to make awkward conversation. This way, at least, Stiles could hide in his dorm room until winter break was over, wallow in Captain Crunch and Leverage, and pretend he wasn’t thinking about his incredibly hot night with Derek and just how amazing it had been.

Of course, because the universe hated him, he managed to run right into Derek when he was running late for class on his first day back. And, just like the first time, he’d been carrying a full cup of coffee, so once again he’d dumped it all over Derek. However, Derek didn’t glare at him this time. He was too busy yanking him into his arms and kissing him senseless, cutting off every single one of the apologies Stiles owed him.

Stiles didn’t make it to class that day. He was late the next morning as well, but that tended to happen when his new boyfriend refused to leave him alone for more than a few minutes at a time while he was showering and getting ready. His new, stupidly hot, insanely smart, incredibly dorky boyfriend, who insisted on buying him a spillproof coffee cup for their one month anniversary, just to make sure Stiles didn’t spill coffee on any more hot guys. Not that there really were hotter guys than Derek, but he guessed it was the principle of the thing, so he didn’t argue.

Life really wasn’t fair. But sometimes that worked out in his favor, so Stiles decided he could learn to live with it.


End file.
